Every time Dream Theater releases a new album it usually takes between three and five listens before I'm really able to wrap my mind around the music and decide if I like it or not. Of course, I always end up loving it and can't imagine them making any new albums that don't sound like this. Then after a couple years they release another album that sounds very different from the last and the whole process starts over again.
Now that I've finally fallen in love with the newest release, Octavarium, and have been listening to it non-stop for well over a week I thought I'd post my personal ranking of Dream Theater's studio albums. I’ll post my thoughts on one album per day, starting with the lowest ranked and moving upward. Here we go!
(Ed. note: I sort of forgot to finish posting these reviews, so here's the first of the last three, which I hope to get out this weekend)
3. A Change Of Seasons
This song only has one studio song on it, but it’s possibly the greatest single song Dream Theater has ever made and it also happens to be the first Dream Theater album I ever bought, which gave it a few extra points. This is everything that an epic length song should be, a single whole tied together by distinct but related movements that run the gamut from slow to fast, rocking to mellow. Each piece sounds great on its own when it’s playing, but there’s no doubt that it’s one song and not several songs simply laid next to each other. Fill out the rest of the album with some great live cover tunes and this one still gets frequent play. I know, it seems lame to be giving what’s really a half studio album such a high ranking, but the title track earns it by be so fantastically good. The cover tunes are the candy pieces on an already baked and frosted cake. For the record, here's a quick run down of the cover tunes:
"Funeral For A Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding" (Originally by Elton John, I actually like this version better)
"Perfect Strangers" (Originally by Deep Purple)
"The Rover/Achilles/The Song Remains the Same" (Originally by Led Zeplin)
"The Big Medley" (Includes pieces of "In The Flesh" by Pink Floyd, "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'" by Journey, "Cruise Control" by Steve Morse, and "Turn It On Again" by Genesis)
"And then you disappeared. Your gambling arrears, the only thing you left behind."
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The Decemberists - The Mariner's Revenge
This is a brilliant plan, MosBen. I check Ra multiple times a day to make sure I can get at least my fair share of Ra points.
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